Presentation# 1 : Communication and Advocacy: Engaging with Communities in Culturally Appropriate Ways Presenter: Jesse Starkey, PhD Student & Graduate Part-Time Instructor, TTU College of Media and Communication The presenter will share findings from a qualitative case study that investigated how individuals associated with a community mental health clinic communicated about the work of the clinic. Interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic field observations have not only led to the development of a specific concentrated advocacy strategy for the clinic, but provided a practical framework for any scholar wishing to engage with community stakeholders in culturally appropriate ways. In addition, the project has allowed undergraduate students to use their skills in advertising and public relations in a real-world setting. Presentation # 2: Collaborative Efforts with Lubbock Impact Presenter: Debra Lavender-Bratcher, Assistant Professor of Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences Since 2013, social work faculty and students have engaged in a partnership to provide services to low-income adults at the TTUHSC Free Medical Clinic at Lubbock Impact. Undergraduate social work students participate as service-learners. Under faculty supervision, they practice engagement and interview skill, while also learning about community resources, how they are accessed, and what needs remain unmet. An evaluation of the impacts of the service-learning pedagogy on one cohort found that student' attitudes toward the poor and the issues they faced were improved over the course of the experience. An assessment of services also provided valuable information to Lubbock Impact's Board of Directors and regular volunteers. Presentation # 3: Texas Education Policy Fellowship Program (TX-EPFP) Presenters: Rebecca Hite, Assistant Professor; John McNaughtan, Assistant Professor; Jessica Gottlieb, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Educational Psychology, Leadership & Counseling; College of Education Three TTU faculty members, Drs. Rebecca Hite, Jessica Gottlieb, and Jon McNaughtan, over three years have designed and implemented a nine-month in-depth community-engaged service program that recruits and professionally develops cohorts of mid-level leaders from across the state of Texas. The mission of the EPFP nationally and here at the Texas site is to expand participants' knowledge of education policy, develop fellows’ situated skills in advocacy-based leadership, and help them cultivate new networks and connections among policy scholars, equity experts, and community leaders in education. Upon graduation, fellows are equipped, empowered, and engaged in improving problems of policy and practice in P-20 Texan education and beyond.